When the Sun Drowns
by Vampiric Dragonrider
Summary: ..... just read. I can't tell you without giving away the whole plot, which I don't want to do. One word hint: Vampires. And not the sexy kind. Warning! lot's of blood and death.
1. First Victim: Aiko

**Randomness…It makes the world go 'round.**

**But I think you'll find that this isn't a romance vampire story. **

**Good luck. Make sure you have a black cat with you.**

* * *

_"Aiko, please come to my room."_ Aiko jumped in surprise. Kaiba's voice sounded husky, like he needed to cough badly. At least, over the speaker-phone it did. The secretary did not fancy the fact that he was probably keeping her even later from her husband. Aiko rubbed her sleepy eyes, slowly got up and made her way to the CEO's bedroom.

She found her employer on his bed facing away from her. He was on his knees and hunched over. She could hear his ragged and phlegm-y breathing. At least, she thought it was phlegm.

"M-Mr. Kaiba, I'm here," she stuttered.

"I know," he said. "Come closer." Aiko shivered. There was something wrong with Kaiba tonight, she thought. She put one shaky leg in front of the other as she made her painfully sluggish way towards Kaiba. It was when she was an arm's length away from him he turned around.

Aiko gasped. His eyes were still blue, but they had a silvery mixture to them, making them glint in the dim light. They were wide and hard, with his eyebrows pointing down in something like anger. His face was almost contorted, making him slightly less pretty. His nails tore into the bedspread. They were long and sharp. What scared her the most was the teeth he was baring. Each one was sharp, but all four canines were the longest.

"K-Kaiba!" she managed to shout before he lurched at her. Aiko's screams rattled the windows of his bedroom.

* * *

Mokuba jerked up in his bed. He wondered for a few seconds what woke him up before he remembered. A woman's screams… coming from his big brother's bedroom! Mokuba leaped out of bed and ran as fast as his short legs would allow to the aforementioned room. What he saw nearly made him hurl.

Kaiba was basically on top of Aiko, his secretary. This would be a gross scene if not for the fact that a peculiar sound was emanating from it. Kaiba's face was at Aiko's throat, not mouth. Kaiba heard Mokuba and turned his head to face him.

Blood was dripping from his mouth, and it almost completely covered his shirt. Mokuba could see Aiko now. Her eyes were closed and her throat looked like a bear had taken a shot at it.

Mokuba fainted right there. Just before he completely lost consciousness, he was aware of his brother standing over him.

"Not food," came the husky, low, sort of prehistoric voice that supposedly belonged to Seto Kaiba.


	2. Second Victim: Stephan

**Here's the next chapter. By the way, all the OCs are minor. I give them names for, even though they're minor, they are mentioned in following chapters.**

* * *

Mokuba rolled over in his bed, still half asleep. What a weird dream I had last night! he thought. He was just about to plant his face back in his pillow and sleep again when he heard his older brother's surprised shouts. Mokuba hurried to his brother's aid only to stop in horror at the doorway.

Kaiba's bed sheets were ripped and bloodstained. Kaiba's mouth was smeared with dried blood, and so were the back of his hands, as if he tried to wipe it off while it was still fresh. His shirt was ruined also. What was the most horrifying part of this scene was the corpse of Aiko the secretary on the bed, her throat nearly torn out, her clothes ripped, and her arms and torso full of deep scratches. She was bloodless.

"What the hell happened!?" Kaiba asked no one.

"You mean you don't—" Mokuba started before cutting off when his brother stopped pacing and stared at him.

"Don't what?"

"Never mind, big brother," Mokuba sighed. Kaiba sighed also.

"Get ready for school, I'm going to clean up…" Mokuba nodded and gladly left the room.

* * *

Kaiba arrived at school a little late. He had showered and thrown out, scratch that, _burned_ all the ruined cloths. He felt like he hadn't slept a wink the previous night, and he was bone tired. However, it was still within his duty to attend school. He plopped into his chair just as the teacher started the lesson.

"Now, before I start, can anyone tell me what the name of the Greek God Hades' three-headed dog was named?" the teacher asked. A student named Annie raised her hand.

"Cerberus, sir," she answered. "Oh and, maybe I please go to the nurse's office? I have a paper cut…" Suddenly, a sweet scent wafted up to Kaiba. His nails started to hurt, like someone was pulling them as in the way of torture. His hand, which had been resting on his desk, jerked into a fist.

"I'll go with her," Kaiba said suddenly, standing up.

The teacher was surprised. "Why? I'm sure she's not going to die of blood loss on the way there. And Annie is very trustworthy." Annie looked back at Kaiba strangely.

"Don't you want someone to _make sure_ she gets there?" Kaiba's eyes turned to ice when he said this. The teacher finally gave in.

Out in the hall, Annie started talking. "So, Kaiba, why did you decide to come with me?" she inquired. Kaiba shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe it's that devilish glint in your eyes," he replied, staring directly into her green orbs that were wide in surprise.

"B-but, how did you know I was going to ditch school?" Kaiba smirked.

"You gave yourself a paper cut, something not so bad, but you don't have to fake anything, like an upset stomach, but enough to get you sent to the nurse's office. It's simple logic… where do you live anyway?"

"On the other side of Domino City." Annie sighed. "My parents wanted me to go to this school so badly! I live at Sedgley Court, in the only yellow house for twenty-five blocks," she laughed. "Same color as my hair, some say," Annie joked, holding up a lock of her blonde curls.

They stopped at the entrance to the nurse's office. Kaiba waited for a few minutes while Annie talked to the nurse. Meanwhile, he examined his nails that had pained him for a few seconds. They seemed a bit long. Kaiba made a mental note to clip them. Annie soon exited the office holding up her finger and grinning. On it was a dinosaur band-aid.

"Let's go back to class, Kaiba!" Annie giggled. Kaiba nodded and they started their trek back to class. Kaiba could smell salt radiating off of her, like she had been in an ocean lately.

But then Kaiba stopped. How could he _smell_ that? It shouldn't be possible for him, or any human being! Annie stopped also and turned to look at Kaiba.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, go on to class," Kaiba tried to assure her.

"What if I try to ditch?"

"Just go!"

"Yessir!" With that, Annie spun on her heel, and took off down the hall. Kaiba soon heard more footsteps. Yugi poked his head around a corner.

"Kaiba? What was that about?"

"Were you _spying_ on me!?" Kaiba accused, glaring. Yugi sweatdropped.

"N-no, I just heard the conversation and… well, never mind." Yugi stepped completely into the hallway. "Is something wrong?" Kaiba's heart sped up.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, keeping his cool easily. Yugi shrugged.

"Just a gut feeling, I don't know. But usually, my instincts are right," the short boy pointed out. Anger replaced Kaiba's slight panic.

"You think you can just butt into my personal life!?" Kaiba growled. Kaiba's presence soared, making him seem taller to Yugi.

"I-I'm just worried about you, is all!" Yugi defended. Kaiba forced himself to calm down. To explode now would be bad. He huffed and turned on his heel to go back to class. "Kaiba," Yugi said suddenly. Kaiba stopped. The voice was different. "If anything should happen again, there will be penalties."

Kaiba nodded curtly and continued down his path.

Yami Yugi sighed. What has Kaiba gotten himself into this time?

* * *

Later that day, when the sun was hovering over the horizon, Kaiba received a phone call. It was from Stephan, Aiko's husband.

"Hello, Mr. Kaiba? I was wondering if you knew the location of my wife, Aiko, who's your secretary? She didn't come home last night, and I'm worried about her."

Kaiba could feel how hoarse his throat was. He coughed and took a swig of water before talking. "No, I haven't seen her. If you came over, we could figure something out." How could he tell Stephan that when he woke up this morning, he found Aiko's corpse on his bed?

Kaiba let Stephan in when the sun was just about halfway sunk in the horizon. His nails had started hurting just before Stephan came, and he didn't know it, but there was a silver glint in his eyes.

The sun was sinking quickly.

Kaiba let Stephan walk in front of him as they walked to the main entrance, where Aiko would have been stationed. Kaiba felt slightly dizzy.

"This was where I last saw her," Kaiba lied.

"Are you getting a cold, or something?" Stephan asked. "You sound hoarse. You should stay home tomorrow. Stress on someone as young as you isn't healthy."

"Sure." Stephan leaned forward on Aiko's desk.

There was only a little sliver of sun left for the residents of Domino City to see.

Kaiba's teeth were hurting now. The feeling is something like using your nails to push up on your gums, only instead of only one or two at a time, it was all of them at once.

"I loved her so much," Stephan muttered. "I wonder what happened to her…"

The sun disappeared completely.

"I can show you," Kaiba said, his voice husky and sounding like he needed to cough badly. Stephan whipped himself around in shock to see Kaiba in a hunting stance, bearing his teeth. Stephan saw, with fright, how sharp those teeth were.

Stephan barely had any time to brace himself as Kaiba tackled him. Kaiba's nails tore into his flesh as the crazed CEO tried to get at his neck. Stephan was no scrawny man. He tried to fend off Kaiba. Kaiba, seeing a wrist near him, titled his head and crunched down on it. Hard.

Stephan screamed, emptying the air from his lungs. With pleasure, Kaiba could feel Stephan weakening. Each movement became that much slower, with that much less strength. Kaiba made a killing lunge at Stephan's neck, and his teeth met soft meat. Soon, Stephan stopped struggling.

That night, Stephan died via blood loss.

* * *

**When the sun drowns, the moon rises.  
****When the sun drowns, people lay down their heads.  
****When the sun drowns, the hunters come out from hiding.**

**-The Book of Nightfall**


	3. Third Victim: Annie

**Back so soon?**

**Why yes, yes I am.**

**Why am I talking to myself?**

**I don't kno—Eek, I see a Seto Kaiba! –chases CEO-**

* * *

"Last night, police found a horrifying scene," said anchorwoman Sora Watts. A picture appeared beside her of the bodies of Aiko and Stephan, both torn and drained of blood. "These two, Aiko and the Italian, Stephan Oxford, are married. However, as you can plainly see, they are now dead. Police officials do not know what or who caused this, but they died no more than two days ago. Police are guessing that it's a serial killer. They warn not to go out without a group of at least three other people, and especially not at night. But everyone questions, who's next?"

This was the morning after Stephan's death. Kaiba had woken up again finding himself wearing a ruined shirt, but Stephan and Aiko's corpse was gone. Now he knew where they went.

Mokuba was also watching. He had found his brother when he had just finished his feast. This time, though, he didn't faint. He knew Kaiba was denying that anything was wrong, even though for the second morning in a row, he awoke with dried blood all over him.

Luckily, today was a day when neither of them had school. However, unluckily for Kaiba, Yami Yugi decided to visit.

Yami caught Kaiba in the doorway. "Kaiba, I saw the news this morning."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"My instincts acting up again."

"You make it sound like allergies."

"Maybe they are. Allergies never lie. What are you planning on doing today, anyway?"

"I'm going to take Mokuba to the arcade." Mokuba peeked out from behind Kaiba with a confirming grin. Yami smiled back at Mokuba before looking back up at the CEO. Kaiba looked deathly tired.

"How about I take Mokuba to the arcade? You look like you need sleep," Yami offered. "I'm sure I could get the others to come along. Mokuba will be safe with us." Yami looked at Kaiba, who was staring at him strangely. Kaiba shook his head as if trying to clear his mind.

"I suppose…" He looked at Mokuba. "I want you to be careful, and if anything happens, I want you to call me immediately." Mokuba grinned again.

"I'll be back before sunset!"

"Sure." Kaiba turned around and went back inside the building. Mokuba guessed he _really_ wanted to sleep. It made him happier now that Yugi offered to take him instead! Yami transformed back to Yugi while Mokuba wasn't looking. Yugi picked up his cell phone and dialled Joey's number.

"C'mon, Mokie!" Yugi said merrily. Mokuba laughed and followed Yugi.

* * *

Annie threw as many clothes that she could fit into her school backpack. Then, she put her entire savings into a purse that slung over her shoulder. She snuck into her sleeping mother's room and stole a credit card.

The sun was down, and it was ten o'clock PM.

"This is what you get for making me walk home _and_ live on the opposite side of the city from my school! And I'm sick and tired of hearing pleasure moans from this same room," Annie hissed into her mother's ear. Then, she crept out of the room and exited through the silent front door, locking it behind her.

Little blonde Annie did not watch the news that morning. She was too busy drawing up plans for her escape. She only took the credit card if she ran out of her own money.

She didn't get far. She ran under a street lamp and stopped in its glow. Annie thought she saw silverish-blue eyes glint in the light. She could feel her pulse throb and speed up.

"Wh-who's there?" she called, frustrated with how shaky her voice was. "Who is it?" All she could hear was ragged breathing. The figure stepped into the light, and Annie let herself let go of the air she was holding in her lungs. "Oh, Kaiba, it's just you!"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. He didn't move at all. Annie started to become panicked again. "K-Kaiba, this isn't funny! Stop trying to scare me!" she shouted, purely frightened. Kaiba bent his knees in a hunting crouch, setting his claw-like fingernails in front of him. Annie gasped. This wasn't Kaiba! Was she going to die?

Kaiba bared his teeth, his mouth stretching. Annie saw a flicker of movement, and swung her backpack just in time to hit Kaiba. He staggered to the side, but regained his balance too quickly and lunged at her again. This time, Annie dropped her backpack and put her arms in front of her to brace herself.

She felt his unbearably sharp nails dig into her skin and muscle, tearing them and making them bloody as he forced them down. Annie couldn't protect herself as Kaiba's gruesome face hissed at her. She fell backwards with Kaiba's weight, and cracked her head on the cement sidewalk. Her vision danced, but she felt the teeth sink into the flesh of her neck.

Annie closed her eyes. Was this always my fate? she thought. To be murdered by…

Annie never got to finish that thought.

* * *

**One crow means sorrow,  
****Two crows mean joy.  
****Three crows mean a letter,  
****Four crows mean a boy.  
****Five crows mean silver,  
****Six crows mean gold,  
****Seven crows mean a secret  
****That's never been told.**

—**Old Gypsy superstition**


	4. Fourth Victim: Sen

**-sigh- my friend, Joanna, helped me with both the name of the dead person and the original quote at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Seto woke up without opening his eyes and with a groan. His muscles felt good, like he had just exercised. He rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. He lifted his hand to run it through his hair and stopped.

Under his fingernails was the unmistakable red mark. Blood.

Kaiba sat up in surprise so fast, it made him dizzy. When he regained his balance, he jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror. There, for the third morning in a row, his mouth was smeared with dried blood.

"Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted. The little boy hurried into his room, not at all shocked to find his older brother in the shape he was in. "Okay, I admit, something's wrong! Do you have any idea what's wrong?"

Mokuba _did_ have an idea. He had no idea how to phrase it, however, for he'd sound like a pure idiot. To say it would be called childish, which the idea was not.

"Um… Seto," Mokuba started, unsure whether or not to continue. From the looks of it, Kaiba would probably believe anything. "I-I think you might be a… a…"

"Out with it, Mokuba!" Kaiba ordered.

"I think you're a…" Suddenly, a clock somewhere struck the hour.

"We're late for school… I'm going to have to be even later, go get Roland to drive you!" Kaiba ordered. As he disappeared into the bathroom, Mokuba ran out to the limo. With a glance back at the tall building, he disappeared into the vehicle.

* * *

Kaiba got to school just as second period was ending. There, he heard murmurs of another corpse found early this morning.

"Didja hear? Annie got killed!"

"Annie? Oh no!"

"Yeah! They found her under a lamppost. Her arms were torn, her skull was cracked, and she was bloodless!"

"Just like Stephan and Aiko!"

"Yeah! But it's so sad! Imagine how her parents must feel!"

* * *

**Sudden Change of scenery.**

Annie's mother danced around with some dude.

"YAHOO!!"

"Shouldn't you be mourning?"

"For who?"

* * *

Kaiba shuddered, thinking of the blood he'd found that morning. He walked into his third period class and handed the teacher a late slip. It was science class.

"Okay, friends!" he started. "Today, we'll be taking blood samples!" Kaiba twitched. "Now, I want you to poke your finger with one of these pins, then put it on the notecard on your desk. Then, I'll select one person to submit a drop of blood to be viewed under the microscope!" The teacher grinned at his students. "Come get a pin now!"

The students all moved in one fluid motion and crammed up at the teacher's desk. Among them were Yugi and Joey. Kaiba swiftly got what he needed and stalked back to his seat. He poked his finger and let the red liquid drop onto the note card.

Other people followed suit. A sweet, all too familiar scent wafted up to Kaiba's nose. Before he could stop himself, he breathed deeply.

"Now, these'll be sent to a hospital, and you'll get to find out your blood type! Now, how about Mr. Kaiba come up here and donate some blood?"

Since it would be rude and pointless to refuse, Kaiba stood up and let another drop of blood fall onto a slide, which the teacher put under the high-powered microscope. It was hooked up to a projector, so the whole class could see. The teacher hummed in thought.

"Well, Kaiba, these blood cells are very interesting…" he mused.

"What?" Kaiba asked, not quite sure he heard the teacher correctly.

"Well, look," the teacher said, pointing to a blood cell on the screen. "This would seem that it's slightly smaller than a normal blood cell, and it's designed slightly differently also. It looks like the membrane is totally different, like it's supposed to absorb stuff." Kaiba's heart sped up.

"That's… not possible…" Kaiba suddenly felt weak. His mind couldn't grasp on any thought, they were going too fast. "I'm perfectly all right!" His vision swam. The scent was intoxicating him.

Kaiba's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed.

* * *

Kaiba woke up on a bed in an infirmary. His head throbbed, and he felt increasingly parched. He forced himself into an upright sitting position. He glanced out the window and found that it was mid-afternoon, just after school got out. He could see kids still walking home. He had been knocked out for the rest of the school day.

Someone knocked on the door and came in. In came Yugi (actually, Yami), Tristan, Tea, and Joey. Kaiba twisted his mouth into a frown.

"What is it? I don't have time for whatever you came for," Kaiba snapped. Joey growled.

"Calm down, Kaiba," Yami said. "We're just trying to help. I'm sure you've agreed that something is wrong."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, all three people had come in contact with you right before their deaths," Yami explained. "Aiko was your secretary, Stephan was her husband, and Annie was last seen with you."

"How do you know that it could be me? This is no substantial proof, Yugi," Kaiba scowled. Yami smirked.

"This wouldn't be substantial proof if it wasn't for Mokuba," he replied. Kaiba's simple annoyance started to grow into rage.

"You… You have no right to pry information from him!" Kaiba shouted.

"Relax, Kaiba!" Joey ordered. "The kid was worried about you! It's not _our_ fault he told us." Kaiba crossed his arms.

"Suppose I _did_ kill those people. Why would I do it? And I clearly do not remember doing any such thing."

Yami sighed. "Do you remember _anything_ from the past three nights?" he pointed out. Kaiba looked blankly at him, then shook his head.

"No, I don't…"

"And why is this?"

"How the hell should _I_ know!? I'm the one forgetting!" Kaiba growled. "This is going no where. _If_ I killed these people, there was only one witness, and that was me, who cannot remember."

"Wrong," Tea cut in. "Mokuba's the second."

"Stop bringing my brother into this," Kaiba hissed. Any _normal_ person would've shivered from Kaiba's hiss. Heck, even _weird_ people would've shivered. But Yami and co. were beyond weird. They were completely bananas.

But that's irrelevant.

"We're bringing him in because he's important to this case!" Tristan added. Kaiba continued to glare, and his face darkened. He wasn't aware that his fingernails started to hurt again.

"I did not kill these people," Kaiba snarled. Yami cut in again.

"Kaiba, listen. Try to remember your previous nights!"

"I told you, I can't."

"Just think about them. Take it slowly and start from where you _do _remember," Tea cooed. Kaiba shot a death look at her, but did as he was told.

He'd start with what happened to Stephan, since he could very clearly remember what happened a few minutes before he couldn't. He thought long and hard, but it was like when the remote for the TV was _just_ out of your reach under the couch.

But one has a solution for that, yes? They either get something to extend the length of their arm with, like a ruler, or they get someone else to get it for them. So Kaiba focused his mind on the last image of Stephan he could remember.

But it was still just out of reach. He knew something was there, but he was groping blindly. Kaiba sighed. "Yugi, I just can't." Yami took a deep breath, thinking. Finally, he walked across the room to a small refrigerator. The one next to it held food. This one held…

"Blood," Yami summed up. "What's your blood type, Kaiba?"

"A, why?" Yami held up a blood pack, which was in there for emergency uses, like a student got knifed, or something. Kaiba stared at the red liquid and couldn't look away. "What are you doing." It was a question said like a statement. Yami didn't answer. Instead, he tore the blood pack open and poured it into a paper cup. The same sweet smell from earlier wafted up to Kaiba. He breathed deeply, and watched Yami with an eagle eye.

Yami brought the cup close to Kaiba. "Smell this," he said, waving it under Kaiba's nose. "Do you remember anything yet?"

"Yugi, what are you doing!?" Joey interrogated. Yami ignored his friend. Kaiba started to shake, and he parted his lips slightly. His breathing became harsh and the smell intoxicated him again. Tea actually started to panic.

"Yugi, this isn't right. Stop it!" she cried. Yami glanced at Tea.

"Look," he ordered, jerking his head towards Kaiba. The four stared at Kaiba, who was ignoring them. Kaiba's entire attention was on the cup of blood. Tea shivered.

"Tell me it's an illusion that's making his eyes seem silver," she moaned. Yami just shook his head in response. "Great." Shaking, Kaiba reached up to take the cup. Suddenly, the tension in the room released, and he swatted the cup away.

"What the hell, Yugi," Kaiba scowled. "What are you trying to _do_ to me?" Yami smirked.

"You can't deny that you wanted it," Yami said. "You want the blood." Kaiba glanced at the spilled cup.

"That doesn't explain anything," he defied.

"Oh but it does," Yami continued. "There's only one creature that has such a bloodlust." Kaiba looked aghast.

"Yugi, you want me to believe you think I'm a vampire?" he scoffed. "How ridiculous! I would've thought you'd be more sceptical than that."

"But Mokuba thinks it too," Tea said, "and all four of us support him!" Kaiba started to laugh.

"You guys are all children, immature!" he cried. He stood up, menacing. "Don't accuse _me_ of being something in… in _fairytales_!" With that, he shoved past Yami and exited. Yami sighed.

"He'll realize it soon enough," he assured his friends. "While Kaiba is still being stubborn, we should look for ways to cure this, and go more into depth on the subject."

"To the library!" Joey shouted.

* * *

Sen walked the park, the moon thin above him, but bright. A light breeze lifted his fine, black hair. He knew that there was a murderer on the loose, and that so far he had attacked at night and at people alone or with another person, but he wasn't scared. He was an innocent teenager who enjoyed his blissful life. Nothing seemed to be able to take it away.

In the calm of the night, he was stopped by a tree rustling, but the breeze wasn't blowing. "Who's there?" he called. He paused. "Cadence, if that's you, it's not funny," he said flatly.

Suddenly, a dark shape "fell" out of the tree and landed on all fours. The figure stood up, and was much too tall to be Sen's Cadence. Sen started to panic. _Oh no! Is this the killer? Am I seriously gonna die?_ he thought frantically.

The shadow's eyes flashed silver. Keeping his attention on him, Sen backed slowly away from it. The figure stepped out into the moonlight, and Sen gasped.

"No way!" he breathed, staring at the CEO that towered above him. Seto Kaiba grinned evilly, flashing his fangs at Sen. Sen couldn't stop staring at them.

All at once, before Sen could react, Kaiba leaped at Sen and knocked him to the ground. Too dazed in shock to fight, Sen was helpless as he felt teeth sink into the soft flesh of his neck. He cried out in pain before fainting.

Kaiba pulled away when Sen was drained. It was much cleaner this time, since there was no struggle, save for the nasty little bump he gave him when he knocked him to the ground. And then, as Kaiba was walking away, he stopped and turned around.

"Oh my god," he said. "Oh my god, oh my god!" He screamed. "What the hell am I!?"

* * *

**And the tall, ominous man  
Stood beneath the shadowed clocktower.  
His teeth glinted in the moonlight,  
And he laughed a hoarse laugh.  
To him, the world was full of life...  
Life for him to steal.**


	5. Fifth Victim: Cadence

**Thanks to those you reviewed. A review from someone new always is able to keep me going… or at least, someone who I don't talk to a lot. THANKS!**

**SORRY SORRY SORRY ITS SO LATE!!! MY COMPUTER TIME HAS BEEN LIMITED TO SATURDAYS ONLY!!!!! AHHHHHHHH**

**I can't believe that half of this chapter has just been sitting in my computer for… how long now?

* * *

**

The realizations and memories flooded his mind. Kaiba could barely believe his mind's eye. _He_ had killed all those people. _He_ had severely injured and disposed of those corpses. And he _had_ wanted the blood Yugi offered him. He _was_ this fabled creature of the night!

Kaiba started to feel the panic start to take over, and forced himself to breathe deeply. He stood, regaining control over his muscles. He had to think of something! He _definitely_ couldn't be this creature. It wouldn't be good at all.

Yugi. With a defeated sigh, Kaiba realized that he'd have to go there. After all, Yugi had been the one who had found out first… well, Mokuba did, but Yugi actually researched it.

Before leaving the park, Kaiba used the solitary environment to examine himself. His nails were sharp, and strong – as proven by him slicing a thin stick in half – and he felt positively strong. He punched a tree to see what would happen. There was a large _crack_ and the tree fell, splintered, to the ground, while Kaiba suffered minimal damages, but those healed quickly.

Kaiba fingered his teeth, accidentally pricking his thumb. He sighed. He could hear and smell more than he could have, and he could see farther than ever, though he didn't have the greatest night vision he expected. He thought it would be more cat-like, seeing in blurs, but seeing movements with precision. Still, it was better than a human's.

Kaiba decided to run to Yugi's house. He wasn't faster than a human, but he could run as fast as humanly possible for what felt like miles without breathing hard. Amplified reflexes, heightened endurance, and superior strength – that didn't seem all that bad, put together. But he knew he couldn't be like this forever. However, there was a small voice in his head that squeaked _what if you can't be human? What if you don't have a choice?_

He reached Yugi's house, barely breathing harder than normal. When he rang the doorbell, Solomon Motou answered. Solomon was remotely intimidated by Kaiba's stature and aura.

"Where is Yugi!?" Kaiba demanded. Solomon retreated slightly, hiding behind the door.

"He never came back from the library. The poor lad probably fell asleep there," Solomon answered quickly before shutting the door. Kaiba growled in anger, but forced himself to turn away from the closed door and head to the library.

* * *

It was Yami's turn to read – Yugi and Yami were taking turns, so that they won't get as tired as fast – when Kaiba entered the library. He was felt before he was seen, as proven by Joey jerking up from his sleeping position and going: "Nyeh? Kaiba's here?"

Indeed, Kaiba's presence was noted with great fear, his aura snaking down the spins of the book guests with a cold chill. Yami himself shivered as he stood up to greet Kaiba. The CEO looked purely outraged.

"Yugi," he started, "I. Need. Help." Kaiba forced himself to say that, spitting the words out like venom. Yami was expecting this.

"So you've acknowledged that you are a vampire, then?" he calmly asked. Kaiba gritted his teeth, baring his fangs subconsciously.

"Yes, I've noticed. Yugi, how do we stop this?" It was killing Kaiba to ask for help, but there was no other choice, and Yugi had already researched vampires, so this was the fastest, simplest, easiest way.

"First, you should learn more about the creature you are," Yami stated. Kaiba slammed his fist down on a table, shattering it, and sat down, impatiently patient.

"Be patient, Kaiba!" Joey shouted quietly. Joey sank in his chair, cowering from the silverish glare from the brunette.

"Kaiba…" Yami said warningly before continuing. "Judging by Mokuba's details, it appears to be that you are a True-Born vampire…"

* * *

_True-Borns are the essence of what is vampyr. They are born from at least one other True-Born. The True-Born does not become a full-fledged vampire until he's killed nineteen victims. In the daytime, they act and look just like humans, but at night, their instincts take over, looking for ways to quench their thirst. Some True-Borns do not even know they are vampires, their instincts holding too much power over them. _

_As a human that is a True-Born nears what the vampyrs call the Blue Age, they begin developing the traits of vampyrs at night. For example, blue eyes turn silver, green eyes turn gold, and brown eyes turn red. The Blue Age can happen anywhere from age eight to around twenty-eight. When they reach their Blue Age, while their heart keeps beating, the rest of their body stops, and the human becomes "undead."

* * *

_

"That's all the books says," Yami concluded. Kaiba soaked this information up. This was entirely new to him, for he was never allowed to look at a fantasy book ever when he was under Gozaburo. All he knew about vampires was the general knowledge. You know, they sucked blood and kept to the night, and everything.

"How do I cure this?" he scowled. The Yugi-group exchanged glances.

"We're not sure," Yami said. "I personally don't think there is a cure, because this seems to be a genetic thing. All I know is that if there _is_ one, it has to be before you kill fifteen more people."

"Fifteen…" Kaiba trailed off. Suddenly, he stiffened. A girl behind them moaned unhappily.

"Ah man, stupid books give me paper cuts!" she cried. He heard her throw a book down to the floor.

"Cadence, relax," said another girl, "We'll just get a band-aid from the librarian."

"Manami, I'm fine, what's a little blood gonna do to me?"

"Who knows," the new girl – Manami – said jokingly, "maybe a sangui-phile'll come around."

"Oh goodness no!" Candace replied, also joking. "A vampire is the worst thing that could happen to me now!" The two girls laughed and retreated behind a bookcase.

"Kaiba, no," Yami said quietly but forcefully. Kaiba's eyes were wide in a craziness that depicted will fighting instinct. The lights suddenly popped and went out. Several occupants screamed in surprise, and only the emergency lights illuminated any area. Yami saw Kaiba's silver eyes before some force knocked him backwards into the table. The table collapsed, one of the legs splintering off. A dark shape passed quickly under an emergency light; the "Geek Squad" identified it as the CEO himself.

"No!" Yami hissed. Two girls screamed, and bookshelves began falling like dominos as someone – presumably the Manami girl – was thrown into one by someone with superhuman strength. Cadence screamed once more, followed by a heavy thump and a sickening crack. Joey, unable to just let anything slide, picked up the broken table leg and swiftly made his way to the emergency light where they last saw Kaiba.

Growling, he yelled, "Kaiba, show yourself!" Wincing, he sliced his finger open on a splinter. "Come get me!" he shouted. He watched carefully for the silver eyes.

_There!_

Attracted by the scent of Joey's blood, the blood of someone he hates deeply, Kaiba could not resist leaving his initial prey and heading towards the Mutt. All Joey saw was a flash of shadow, and he swung his weapon as hard as he could. It collided with something, and a heavy object slammed into a tumbled bookcase.

The lights flickered back on. Joey's weapon had collided with Kaiba's head, and the CEO now slumped against a bookcase, knocked out. A few people were crying. The librarian present went to check on the two girls that Kaiba had attacked. Yami raced over to them, too. Manami was just unconscious, but Cadence…

"Oh my god…" the librarian breathed, putting a hand to her mouth. "I've never seen so much gore in my life!"

Cadence's body had been maimed horridly. Her rusty-colored hair was stained with her own blood, and there were nasty gashes on her arms and abdomen. She had apparently tried to fight the attacker off. And, almost undetectable by the red liquid bleeding from her cheek, there was a bite mark on her neck.

"And the killer was here," the librarian continued, gasping for breath. They heard sirens wail. Someone had called 911. She glanced around. "But, did he leave?"

Joey found them, his weapon dropped under the emergency light. He had heard the librarian's question, and as much as he hated Kaiba, he couldn't ruin someone like that. That's a life-changing thing. Kaiba could be thrown in _jail_. He wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. "Yes, apparently he did leave," he said instead. "Knocked out Moneybags, too."

Yami knew perfectly well that Joey had knocked out Kaiba. But he also knew that Joey was a decent guy. He trusted Joey's judgement. The paramedics burst through the doors and rushed to anyone on the floor or bleeding at all. One paramedic tested Cadence for a pulse, but he looked up and shook his head sadly. Cadence was dead.

Manami and Kaiba, still unconscious, were taken by the paramedics to stay in the emergency room overnight for observation. They should be released in the morning. Indeed, the sky already showed a few graying spots. Everything for today was ay-okay.

Yami sighed and looked at Joey. "This is getting out of hand," he said.

"Yup," Joey replied. "This problem is bigger than we thought. He can't even control himself around the presence of… of blood."

Yami nodded. "We can only hope for the best, and try everything we can to stop this."

"Worst come to worst…" Joey trailed.

"Yes," Yami concluded. "If worst comes to worst, and this gets far too much out of our hands, then indeed, we shall have to kill Seto Kaiba."

* * *

**Death awaits silently on her high chair**  
**Her haunting prowls of the night are finished**  
**A beautiful maiden, hated and feared for her power.**  
**A nocturnal ghost of the black rose.**


End file.
